Hungarian Politics podcast – András Schiffer, MNB foundations

We’ve got a great show on the Hungarian Politics podcast this week, despite the fact that our host Steven still has a somewhat weak voice!

Philosopher, writer and commentator Gáspár Miklós Tamás

Well, we hope you’ll enjoy the show anyway! The big news in politics this past week was the unexpected decision on Tuesday by András Schiffer, founder and head of opposition party LMP, to step down from the leadership of the party and leave his seat in Parliament.

The noted writer and philosopher Gáspár Miklós Tamáspenned an eloquent opinion piece in HVG.hu (Hungarian link) on Tuesday that reflected on Schiffer’s political legacy and the future of the political opposition in Hungary.

Hungarian Politics caught up with Tamás and asked him to tell us more about why he believes András Schiffer was the best Parliamentarian in Hungary. He also discusses some areas where he was in disagreement with Schiffer, and whether LMP even has a future without its founder.

Hungarian freelance journalist Blanka Zöldi

We then examine the issue of the foundations set up by the National Bank of Hungary (MNB). This is a complex story with several different aspects and is developing practically on a weekly basis, but fortunately we managed to get Brussels-based Hungarian journalist Blanka Zöldi, who has been writing about the MNB’s foundations, to break down this story for us in a clear and understandable way.

Zöldi informs us of the reason why these foundations were set up, the criticism leveled at the MNB and its governor, György Matolcsy, and why the public hasn’t yet become outraged about this issue. Finally, Zöldi gives us her assessment as to how this story might play out in the 2018 election campaign.